He could’ve been hanging out with the wrong crowd, smoking or disrespecting authority.

But when Jerry Meek’s father, a veteran homebuilder, discouraged him from going into the industry, his I’ll-show-you move was following in his father’s professional footsteps.

This path resulted in Desert Star Construction, the custom luxury homebuilding company he started with his father, Gerald, in 1978.

“My dad told me not to be a homebuilder. It was my form of rebellion,” said Meek, president of the Scottsdale-based company, chuckling.

Meek, who was born in Chicago and moved all over the country before his family landed in Arizona when he was a high school freshman, recalled going to job sites with his father since he was 5. By junior high, he was working with tools. It seemed like a natural fit, yet Gerald didn’t want to place any expectations on his oldest son.

“He wanted me to do this, not for the love for him, but because I loved what I did,” Meek said of his father, who retired from the business five years ago. “I still do.”

The father-and-son business has grown since its early years. The projects have become larger and more intensive, and business has grown 230 percent since 1998, Meek said. His oldest son, Jeremy, is the firm’s sustainability projects manager, and Jerry’s wife, Carol, handles the financial side of the company, keeping Desert Star a family affair.

Forming strong relationships with clients and valuing them beyond an invoice or project number has also remained key to the company’s growth over the decades. Because clients’ satisfaction is paramount, this sometimes means turning down projects if Meek feels compatibility among the builder, architect and client isn’t there. Business is generated purely by referral.

“We make the conscious effort to treat each client like they are the only one. We feel like we create a relationship with each client ... and the relationship continues after the project is completed,” Meek said. “That’s part of what my parents taught me. Do what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it.”

Judy Capra and Steve Brandis hired Desert Star to build their dream winter getaway home in Paradise Valley. The couple sought out Meek after seeing examples of his firm’s work while house hunting.

The two-year project was completed last May and became the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified net zero luxury residence in Paradise Valley. The term refers to a structure with zero net energy consumption and zero carbon emissions on an annual basis.

The couple wanted to make their desert home as energy efficient as possible and are happy with the results. The constant communication throughout the process and after they moved in meant a lot to Capra and Brandis, who live in New York City for part of the year.

“Part of this was done long distance, and there was never a time when we had a question we put to the team and weren’t given an answer within an hour or a few hours,” Capra said. “That’s part of what made it such a great process.”

Brandis added, “Jerry was never anything but upfront. They went way over 100 percent in working for us, and it shows when you see the house.”

Growing up, Meek attended a total of 10 different schools by the time he graduated from Paradise Valley High School, where he met Carol in the concert choir.

At 14, he was a freshman at Tempe High School and started a landscaping business. He purchased a truck and hired someone to drive because he was too young for a driver’s license. Some say the entrepreneurial bug bit early. But Meek admitted to a different motivation.

“I didn’t like not having money,” he said, laughing. “I needed a job and no one would hire you unless you were 16. But I actually enjoyed it.”

When he was 18, Meek started a carpentry business with Gerald that serviced the custom home and commercial markets.

About five years later, architect and mentor George Christensen persuaded the men to get their general contractor’s licenses. Christensen had given the Meeks projects and expressed frustration that no one else could meet his level of satisfaction.

“He asked if we thought about it and said, ‘If you do, I’ll keep you busy,’ ” Meek recalled of that conversation with Christensen.

Desert Star was born. The company started with construction and remodel jobs that other firms turned down and moved toward custom residential and commercial projects.

Decades of building a reputation helped cushion the recession’s impact in 2008. Meek approached clients and asked if they knew anyone else who needed a project done. The relationships they cultivated helped them weather the storm.

“It generated a lot of work. It’s all because we’ve had the most amazing clients who support us. There’s nothing of more value to a business,” Meek said. “If you take care of clients, they’ll take care of you.”

Also at this time, Meek added LEED certification to his firm’s services. Currently, Desert Star has 14 LEED certified projects under its belt, including two homes that are net zero.

“If you want to improve, you’re always stretching the envelope … growing from each level of experience,” Meek said.

Giving time and resources to community organizations and nonprofits as well as being generous to staff has gone a long way to creating a well-rounded business that feels more family than formal.

“People get so focused on performance, they don’t think of the health of the people. A big part of what we do is focus on organizational health, not just performance,” Meek said. “You can’t have structural integrity without personal integrity.”

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